


Woman of the Stars

by Dark_and_night



Category: Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins Movies), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types, Hannibal Lecter Tetralogy - Thomas Harris
Genre: F/M, Fantasy AU, Forbidden Love, Royalty AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_and_night/pseuds/Dark_and_night
Summary: You want to look out at the stars, when you meet someone unexpected.
Relationships: Hannibal Lecter/Reader
Kudos: 68





	Woman of the Stars

You stood on top of a hill, holding in your one hand a pair of opera glasses stolen from your mother, in the other a rolled-up blanket. The hill was far from home, about an hour walk, but the hill was the closest you could get to the sky without running away to the mountains. You may have been brash, but you were not ready to run away from home, not just for a slightly better look at the stars. 

There was a new moon tonight, so the night was pitch black, with only the light of the twinkling stars to illuminate the barren hill.

You rolled out the blanket, laying back on it and looking up at the sky. Sighing in relief from at last making it to your destination, you held the opera glasses up to your eyes. The stars only barely looked closer with your glasses, but they were still closer than usual. 

You pulled the edges of your blanket around you, the cold night air making goosebumps rise on your skin.

“You’ll never see the stars with something like that.” A deep voice came from somewhere behind you. 

You screamed and tried to stand, dropping the glasses, getting your feet tangled in the blanket, and falling on your back.

The masculine voice chuckled slightly as you scrambled back to your feet, your ankles still wrapped in the edges of the blanket. “Who’s there?” You snapped, trying to sound confident, looking around you for the source of the voice but finding none. 

“I am me.” The voice replied. You frowned and looked in the direction of the voice. The voice was close, but there was no one in sight.

“Don’t play coy, you sadistic cat!” You balled your hands into fists, bracing yourself. 

“Sadistic cat?” The voice chuckled again. “And what does that mean?”

“P-playing with your food.” You replied, taking a step back, nearly falling again, as you hadn’t untangled yourself.

“I can assure you; I have no intention of eating you.” The voice replied. “I’m not playing with you either. I’m right in front of you.”

Your eyes widened, realization of exactly what this voice must have been finally sinking in. “You’re-!”

You felt a hand gently stroke your knuckles, the fingers touching you so softly they tickled. You yelped and jumped back, your tangled feet causing you to fall backwards yet again, and this time, you didn’t have time to catch yourself. You didn’t have to, the demon in your company wrapped his hands around your waist, stopping your fall.

You screamed and flailed, trying to get out of his arms, away from the demon, away to safety.

“Please, if you run, untangle yourself.” The voice was as soft as the hands, and you realized that he was right. If you tried to run, you would just trip over the accursed blanket again. 

“Let me go!” You snapped. The demon complied. You quickly bent down, throwing the blanket away from your feet. “Don’t touch me again!”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” The demon replied.

You got on your knees, feeling around the ground for the opera glasses. “What are you doing in my kingdom?” You spat, still on edge.

“Well, I come here to look at the stars. Then I saw you trying to do the same with this piddly little toy of yours.” Cold metal touched your neck, and you stifled a squeak, before quickly realizing that the metal wasn’t the sharp blade of a knife, but the rounded metal of the glasses.

“Well what could look at them better?” You swiped the glasses from the demon, quickly standing.

“Here.” He replied. You squinted, trying desperately to see your nighttime companion, only managing to see an outline, now that you were calm enough to truly take the time to look for one. You saw his bulky hunched over form, his horns protruding a whole foot over his head, his hands pulling out something metallic from a black pouch. “This is how to see the stars.”

You took a step back, debating whether to just make a break for it and hope he doesn’t follow, or see what this contraption he was setting up could do. 

The golden contraption glinted ever so slightly in the starlight, which helped you know where your companion was in the darkness. 

“Can you see?” He asked.

“Huh?” You replied.

“Can you see where to put your eye, or may I guide you to it?” He clarified.

You shuffled forward, curiosity getting the better of you. “I honestly can’t see a thing.”

“May I take your hand then?” You could vaguely see the outline of his face, only now just barely seeing that his eyes looked like coals.

“Y-yes.” You replied shakily, holding out your hand.

Warm fingers wrapped around yours, his hand so much bigger than yours. He gently guided you to the ground by his side, before placing your hand on the small end of the contraption. “Try not to move it, I have it trained on something I think you’ll like.” He said, mere inches from your ear.

You saw now his face a bit better, now that you were so close. His angular jaw and sharp features, and his eyes that were impossibly intense. You tried with all your might not to shake, still scared, but unwilling to leave.

“Where do I put my eye?” You asked softly.

“May I guide you?” He said, making no move to touch you without permission.

You nodded before realizing that he may not be able to see it. “Yes.”

You felt his hand wrap around yours on the contraption, and another one gently settled on the back of your neck. Slowly, he moved your head so that your eye was just above your hand, and you saw there was a tiny eyepiece just above where your hands were. You moved to look into it, his hands leaving yours when he realized you’d figured out where to look.

“Oh my god.” You breathed. Inside the contraption you saw a star, but so much bigger than you had ever seen one before. “What is this?”

“It’s a telescope.” He replied at your side. “It helps us see the stars.”

You just stared at it, eyes welling with tears. “It’s so much more beautiful than I ever thought possible.” 

He smiled, watching you. “That star is called Hannibal. Which happens to be my name as well.” 

*  
*

“Hannibal!” You called from your spot on the hill, waving at him frantically, forgetting your mother’s words of wisdom that a lady should never act too excited to see a man.

Hannibal smiled and walked over, looking down at you. “I don’t know who you’re more excited to see, me, or the telescope.”

You feigned offense. “It’s still sunlight, the sun won’t go down for another hour. Of course I’m excited to see you. I’ve never seen you in sunlight before.”

Hannibal chuckled. “Do I live up to expectations?”

You looked over his features, noticing now that his skin was made not just of deep blues, but purples and blacks, just like the night sky you loved so much. “Are your people named after stars because you look like the sky?”

Hannibal looked at his hand, trying to look at his colors through your eyes. “I never thought about it. It’s just tradition. Not all of us are named after stars, but seeing as I’m royalty, my parents thought it best to hold up the tradition.”

You nodded slightly, fiddling with your hands. “I brought some food. If you want some.”

Hannibal sat on the blanket, smiling, his horns level with the top of your head even with you standing at full height. “I’d love some.”

*  
*

You huddled by the side of your lover, nervously looking around the marketplace of the people you had been taught to fear your whole life. Only this nervousness wasn’t out of fear for your well-being, it was fear for Hannibal.

“They hate me.” You mumbled.

Hannibal’s arm tightened comfortingly around your shoulders. “They don’t. They’re just not used to you yet.”

You bit the inside of your lip. You both knew that a relationship between the King of the Night and the princess of a human kingdom would be a hard sell, but it had been Hannibal’s idea to introduce you to his people by parading around the marketplace in a carriage for all to see. The carriage was going to make its way to his castle, and at the castle there was going to be a ball. 

You knew that there were many risks to this plan, such as someone back home discovering you weren’t in your room, which was a high probability. Another risk would be word getting back to your parents that you were in this place in particular, but the odds of that happening were low, as there was almost no communication between kingdoms of humans and kingdoms of night dancers. 

You couldn’t have a special dress made for the occasion without arousing some sort of suspicion around your castle, so you wore the dress that was made for your last birthday party. It was fancy, but you felt that no matter what you wore, you would be hyper aware that you would stand out no matter what.

You looked out into the crowd, at the blues and purples and reds that made up the skin of this kingdom’s occupants, at their horns that went out in all directions depending on the person, at the women who were bigger and stronger than the men, out at everything you knew you knew nothing about. And felt even worse about the upcoming ball.

*  
*

You looked out at the crowd at the ball. Honestly, you hadn’t expected anyone to show up, so even though a crowd was a big step up from an empty ballroom, you didn’t feel entirely comfortable. Hannibal had been pulled aside by a couple acquaintances of his, and you had stepped aside to give them some privacy only to find yourself pulled by the crowd of people and on the complete opposite side of the ballroom from the one person you knew. You were jostled by the crowd more often than not, probably because of the average three-foot height difference between you and everyone else there.

The ballroom was very similar to the one back home, which brought you some comfort. At least you could pretend you were in your element. Carefully you tried to make your way back to Hannibal, quickly realizing that while this ballroom was similar to yours, it was still unfamiliar terrain, and you couldn’t see above anyone’s shoulders. 

You noticed a bit of gold out of the corner of your eye, turning to see what it was. Just to your left was a female night dancer. What made this woman unique was that her skin was made of hot red and bright gold colors. Where everyone else’s skin was colored more like various night skies, hers was more like sunshine.

“You’re beautiful!” You exclaimed without thinking. 

The woman blinked and looked down at you, you blushing as you realized that not only had you said that out loud, but that you might have stepped out of line in doing so.

The sunshine woman looked away for a moment, as if looking for someone else that you might have been complementing. Her brows furrowed for a moment before she looked back at you. “Uh, thank you.” She said.

You nodded and held out your hand, figuring that if you went this far, you may as well go all the way. “My name is princess (y/n). I’m the one that Hannibal brought here.”

“I know.” The woman replied, taking your hand and shaking it awkwardly. “Everyone knows. I’m Clarice.”

“Hah, I suppose everyone here would know about me, huh?” You smiled. 

“Indeed.” Clarice nodded. “I’m kind of surprised that the king would choose you.”

You tried your best not to be offended and nodded back. “I suppose it is odd. But he hasn’t exactly put a ring on my finger, he might not ‘choose’ me after all.”

“What do you mean, a ring?” Clarice tilted her head. “He made you a glass orb, didn’t he?”

Blinking, you replied dumbly. “Orb?”

Clarice raised her eyebrows. “You don’t know? In our culture, we propose to our mates by making them a decorative orb out of glass. We put it in crowns and on necklaces. He told me he was making you one.” Clarice then saw the look on your face. “Oh, no.” She held up her hands awkwardly as you started to cry. “Oh no oh no oh no I’m sorry!”

You put your face in your hands, tears streaming down your face. “That’s like a wedding ring?”

Clarice awkwardly put her hand on your shoulder. “Um, I suppose. Did he…not give it to you yet?”

You shook your head, a wide, dumb grin forming on your face through your tears.

“Oh, crap.” Clarice said.

“Where is he? Point me to him please!” You wiped your eyes, your smile getting wider. 

“Uh…” Clarice looked around. “Uh, you know what? I’ll do you one better.”

Clarice put your hands under your armpits, lifting you up. You squeaked in surprise, trying to cover your crying face as you were being lifted above the crowd. 

“What are you doing?!” You shouted in surprise.

“Helping you find him, seeing as you’re so short!” Clarice replied, walking in the direction she last saw Hannibal. “My King? My King! I have your woman and she’s crying!”

“Oh my god, is this normal?” You shouted, trying to cover your face more, curling up in mid-air as the party’s occupants all turned to look at you.

Hannibal turned to face the source of the noise to see you being carried high above the crowd. “Who-? Clarice! Put her down right now!”

Clarice laughed and put you down. “Sorry princess, but it got you to him faster.”

You peeked through your fingers to look at Clarice. “I sincerely hope I never see you again, Sunshine.” The word ‘Sunshine’ was spat out with all the sarcasm you had.

Hannibal pushed through the crowd and crouched by your side. “Are you okay? Why are you crying? What’s wrong?”

“I might have given something away.” Clarice said apologetically. 

Hannibal looked up at her in confusion. “What?”

You felt your cheeks burning from the embarrassment of being carried through a crowd, but the embarrassment was quickly overshadowed by the knowledge that Hannibal had made his culture’s equivalent of a wedding ring. You wrapped your arms around his neck, burying your face in his chest, the tears coming anew. “I do.”

Hannibal blinked and looked at you. “What?”

You giggled, realizing that you felt in his breast pocket something suspiciously spherical.

*  
*

You couldn’t stop looking at it. It was yours, and your man was the one who made it for you. You sat in your bed, in your own castle, looking at the glass orb that Hannibal had made for you. He made it look like a night sky, with a beautiful swirling universe inside the small glass ball. 

You wore it everywhere, on a chain long enough to hide it under your clothes when you had to be around your parents. You knew you had to tell them, but you also knew that they would never accept that you were in love with the King of the Night. 

You sat up, going to your desk and pulling out a pen and paper. The coward’s way out, yes. But also, the easiest way to finally go back to your fiancé for good. Running away.

*  
*

“You’re so small.” Hannibal smiled, petting the hair of his new wife. The two of you were cuddled on his bed in his chambers, both tired from the wedding party you had just escaped from.

You just giggled, running your fingers over his horns. “Hard to believe you’re only average height.”

Hannibal chuckled. “Average only in height, my love.” 

You blushed softly, giggling and slapping his arm before climbing on his chest. “What should we do tomorrow?”

Hannibal hummed and ran his hands over your legs. “Why should we do anything but stay right here? There is so much I don’t know about human anatomy.”

You laughed more and kissed his forehead. “Don’t you want to do something on our honeymoon?”

“Not particularly. Because while we’re here I get to touch you all I want for as long as I want.” He leaned up, nuzzling his face in your neck. 

You hummed at the feeling. “You get to do that the rest of our lives.”

*  
*

“Wait, so humans aren’t born from eggs?” Clarice stared at your stomach, which was, for the moment, not showing the baby bump. The two of you were sitting in the garden, you on a bench, Clarice sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to your chest. 

“Night dancers are?” You raised your eyebrows, putting a hand on your stomach, suddenly wondering if what was growing inside of you wasn’t a baby, but an egg. “That’s horrifying.”

“It’s more horrifying that you’re expected to give birth to something with arms and legs that can get stuck in something.” Clarice looked in horror at your stomach, gently poking it with her finger.

“Wait, the arms can get stuck in something?” You slapped your friend’s hand away. “What is there to get stuck in?”

“I don’t know, don’t you? You’re the human here.” Clarice frowned.

“I don’t know about all this!” You frowned as well, now vastly more concerned about the child growing in your stomach.

“I mean, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Clarice said unconvincingly.

You sighed. “You will forever be my comforting Sunshine, won’t you?”

*  
*

You were screaming, screaming. In so much more pain than you ever knew a person could feel and survive. Your husband was at your side, holding your hand and looking to the doctor in a panic. You had never seen him scared, never seen him in any way but calm and collected. That didn’t help your current state.

“Is this normal?” He frantically shouted to the midwife. Or, to put the ‘midwife’s’ occupation in better terms, she was the demon in charge of overseeing offspring.

“I’ve never been involved with a human pregnancy before!” The midwife shouted back, frantically pawing through a medical book. “Humans give birth to a physical child! I’ve only dealt with eggs before!”

“I swear to God himself, Hannibal, if I’ve endured nine months in the life of an expectant woman to give birth to an egg, I’ll have your head!” You spat between contractions.

Hannibal smiled in relief at your normal wit. “Just as brash as ever. Love, how does this work for humans?”

“I don’t know either, I’ve never seen anyone give birth before!” You groaned, resting your head back on the pillow, breathing shallowly.

*  
*

The beautiful baby girl was born a baby, not an egg, with skin that took after the light blue sky of a spring morning.

However, it was not morning, it was the middle of the night, and the beautiful baby was screaming in very much the same manner that her mother did whilst giving birth to her only a month prior. 

“It’s your turn to look after her.” Hannibal mumbled from his place under the warm bed sheets.

You, equally determined to not leave your place in bed, mumbled back. “Your title is King of the Night. It is night. She’s your responsibility.”

“Damn your mouth.” Hannibal sat up, running his hands through his hair and groaning from lack of sleep.

“I’d rather you kiss it.” You replied sleepily. 

Hannibal chuckled tiredly, leaning over and kissing his wife. “You’re drooling.”

“And you kissed it.” You smiled before going back to sleep.


End file.
